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Social Radical Party (Rutania)
| Seats2 Title = Local government | Seats2 = | Website = www.radicals.rut | politics = Politics of Rutania | political parties = Political parties in Rutania | elections = Elections in Rutania | }}The Social Radical Party (SR), was a political party in Rutania. Founded in June 3479 as the Democratic Alliance, the Social Radical Party subscribes to ecologism, progressivism and civil libertarianism, which it sees as the foundation of human rights. The party was founded by Ronald Williams as a split from the Moderate Democratic Party. 'History' 'The 3470s - foundation' The Social Radical Party was founded following the creation of an electoral coalition between a small splinter group from the centre-right Moderate Democratic Party and progressive independents. Ronald Williams, a former member of the Moderate Democrats, led the process of unifying the groups and ultimately forming the Democratic Alliance in June 3479, which was renamed as the Social Radical Party in 3488. 'The 3480s - electoral breakthrough' The 3482 local elections marked the beginning of a series of electoral breakthroughs for the Social Radicals. The elections left 14 out of 40 local councils under the control of the Social Radical Party, after the party had won 20 percent of the vote and 205 seats across the country. Despite failing to gain any representation in the national legislative election of 3480, the Social Radicals rapidly surged to become the largest party in the country in 3484. In the legislative election, the party gained over 28 percent of the vote and 160 seats. The party's leader Ronald Williams came second in the presidential elections, and made it to the second round, in which he was defeated by Jeremy Ward of the Liberty Party. Following the party's national breakthrough and establishment as Rutania's biggest political party, the Social Radical Party attempted to forge a nation-wide coalition with the Workers' Solidarity Movement (WSM) and the Rutanian Progressive Conservatives (PC). The WSM was willing to join the Social Radicals in a coalition government, but they failed to achieve a parliamentary majority following the Progressive Conservatives' rejection of the proposed coalition. Hence, the Social Radicals was left in the parliamentary opposition. Following this incident, the Social Radical Party has been described as an 'outsider party' due to being rejected by most other major parties - despite the fact that at the time, the Social Radical Party was the largest party. In the late 3480s, the polls turned against the Social Radicals for the first time since the party's founding. This shift in popular support was confirmed in the local elections of 3486, when they gained only about 21 percent of the vote. This was however an increase from the last local elections. The party faced a devastating defeat two years later, in the national elections. The Social Radical Party lost about 10.5 percentage points in the election, landing on 17.7, becoming the second largest party. Ronald Williams, the party's leader won that year's presidential election, however, after earning the support of the Workers' Solidarity Movement in the second round. Despite the losses, the election of 3488 was descibed by Williams himself as a success. 'The 3490s - internal reform' Following the poor results of the Social Radical Party in the 3490 local elections, President of Rutania Ronald Williams chose to redraw from his position as party chairman in March that year. His position was filled by Alexia Florence, who was elected in April 3490. The internal reforms in the Social Radical Party in this period turned out to be successful in the 3492 national elections, in which Florence was elected president, and the party itself gained 25 new seats in parliament. Further success was achieved in the 3496 elections, when the Social Radicals increased their share of the votes again. However, party leader Florence lost the office of president to the Liberty Party candidate, in a distant second place in the second round of the presidential election. 'The 3500s - decline and dissolution' The elections of 3500 turned out to become the party's worst result in two decades. The Social Radicals dropped from 23.7 percent in 3496 to 16.1 in 3500. In the presidential elections, the party's candidate, Michael White, failed to reach the second round - only gathering 15.9 percent. This resulted in most of the party leadership resigning, including party leader Florence. Since the Workers' Solidarity Movement came third in the race, neither of the two alliance partners gained any power that year. Just over a year after the election defeat, the party dissolved, with most of its members instead joining the WSM itself. 'Political platform' The political platform of the Social Radical Party was described in detail in the party manifesto, known officially as the Social Agreement. The Agreement stated that the Social Radicals were primarily progressive and ecologist, also supporting LGBT liberation, womens' rights and pacifism. The pacifism of the party was reflected in its anti-war and anti-gun legislation in parliament. Civil libertarianism, individual rights and multiculturalism also played an important part of the Social Radical Party's general political image. "Ecology, liberty, knowledge" long served as a de facto ''slogan of the party, referring to its environmentalist and left-libertarian ideology as well as its relatively intellectual and educated voter base. The Social Radicals were described as a force of the new left, having little to no connection to the labour movement, yet being clearly progressive and social. However, the party was a strong advocate of workers' self management, which lead many political analysists into describing it as socialist or social-democratic. 'Party leaders' 'Electoral performance' 'Presidential elections' 'Legislative elections' 'Local elections''' Category:Political parties in Rutania